The Road to Redemption is Long and Winding
by Once Upon A Spazz
Summary: Grant Ward is not good, not always. Sometimes though, you have to reach your lowest point before you can realize who you truly want to be and what you want to do. The road is not an easy one to take and it does not lead him to the light, but it does lead him from the darkness. Some vulgar language *My interpretation of how the season finale could go and onward into a second season*
1. Good

_Shit._

It was the only word going through his head as he slipped around the corner, only to duck back behind when Coulson and May came briefly into view. Thankfully, they didn't see him. It doesn't stop him from backtracking along the hall he'd just walked, or turning down another corridor when he realizes he still needs to get out of there.

They weren't supposed to be here. They were supposed to be off, hunting Deathlok, and away from The Fridge, where Ward knew SHIELD agents would be flooding in a matter of minutes. He just wasn't expecting _them. _

He'd been fully prepared to leave the containment facility and let the manslaughter begin without him, but now he knew he couldn't go. As much as he knew he wasn't SHIELD, and as much as he knew they wouldn't like the real him, a throbbing of memories flooded him with the moments in which he'd enjoyed their company, enjoyed their friendship.

He didn't want to see them killed.

He thought about leaving despite his doubts, but realized that if they weren't given some form of safety, they'd be killed by some other HYDRA drone.

Carefully, with his heartbeat thumping in his ears, Ward turned another hall and found his way into the operations base Garrett had set up. Looking up at the screens they'd mounted, he frantically checked each one for any sight of Coulson, or May. It's when his eyes came to rest on a pair of scientists and a stubborn hacker that he swallowed.

They're weren't with May or Coulson, but with Triplett, who protectively stood in front of them as Skye walks backwards, watching for any attacks from behind.

Skye held a gun in her hand, looking both terrified and deadly. It wasn't an ICER.

A pang of guilt burned at Ward's chest, forcing him to remember the girl who couldn't shoot a gun at Ian Quinn, but instead chose to jump into a pool from a second floor balcony. Now, Ward thinks, she'll have to kill to stay alive, especially surrounded by HYDRA.

He hated himself a little for knowing that soon, she'd be a killer, something that so horribly contrasts the way he saw her. She was _good._

She was meant to stay that way.

Going completely on instinct, he marched away from the monitor, determined to keep Skye, and the others, safe one last time before the end came. He wouldn't swoop in and save the day, but he could at least keep them away from the bloodshed until it was over. He'd send them in the direction of one of the planes in the garage.

He couldn't see them dead.


	2. Dark

Skye was the first to come to consciousness. Her head was pounding and she guessed that'd upon the next time she looked in a mirror, she'd have a bump somewhere. She twisted her body, stretching her muscles, looking for any signs of where she was, and who was around.

To her left, she could see Jemma and Fitz, lying still on the floor. She scrambled to her feet to check their pulses, only to release a long breath when she could feel their steady heartbeats. They were only knocked out.

On her right, Agent Triplett started to stir, the grip on his gun tightening as he gained awareness. He blinked blearily and swiveled his head to take in his surroundings. Only when his eyes met Skye's did he stop.

In a quiet voice, Skye spoke. "Any idea where we are?"

She racked her brain to recall what happened last and could only remember a sharp pain to her head before blackness overcame her. She couldn't remember who had attacked them, only that they were strong. They were searching for the operations center so Skye could plant a virus in the system when they were taken down. But they weren't dead.

Triplett's voice broke her out of her memories, nearly echoing her previous thought, "Looks like a plane… Whoever attacked us, they didn't attack to kill. Why?"

Helplessly, Skye furrowed her eyebrows as she pressed a hand to her forehead. "They didn't lock us up either. We can walk right out of here."

At her words, Fitz began to blink, followed shortly by Simmons, who shot up from her lying position with a start.

"Where are we?" Simmons frowned at the room they were in, taking in the deep red carpet and the small windows. Her head tilted to the left as she took in the plane seats next to her.

Triplett took the chance to speak, keeping his gaze moving around, searching for any sign of potential danger. "A plane. Someone wants us transported, maybe." He stood, cracking his back in the process before gesturing for the others to follow him.

They walked forward, on unsteady legs, stiff from disuse. The four of them entered the cockpit and gazed out of the windows, noting how the garage was completely empty, save for them. What Fitz noticed, however, was the key in the ignition of the dashboard and the tank full of gas, ready for flight.

"Someone wants us to get out of here."

Skye's eyes flashed with something, but left before anyone could ask. After a pause, she spoke, "We're not leaving without Coulson and May."

Not a minute later, the huge metal wall rose up and two figures ran across the huge lot, towards them. It was Coulson and May.

A moment later, they burst through the door to the cockpit, both breathing heavily as the others watched in shock.

May was the first to catch her breath and speak. "Start the engines. _Now." _

Without hesitation, Triplett prepared for takeoff, before glancing backwards at them. "How do we get out of this garage?"

Coulson took several steps forward before leaning over the pilot's chair and pointing upwards towards the roof of the fridge. "You go up," He spun back around to look at everyone, before continuing. "Everyone get to the hanger of this plane. Buckle up." On command, everyone scurried out of the room, forcing themselves onto the hard seats and clicking into place the seatbelts that would keep them from being thrown to the back of the plane.

Just as Coulson buckled himself in, the plane started to lift off the ground and began tilting until it was going nearly straight upwards. Soon, they could hear the sound of concrete being smashed through as they burst through the top of the building. The plane started to level out as they climbed further and further away from the building, only to watch it explode in several areas.

Skye could imagine the voices inside whispering 'Hail HYDRA' with their last breath as they were soon burned away, turned to ash and soot amongst the crumbling walls.

With a shaky breath, she turned to Coulson and said with pain in her voice, "What happened?"

He pressed his lips together before exhaling. "He's dead. Garrett's dead. May and I took him out."

"How did you find us?"

His eyes were shadowed as he turned to face forward, away from Skye's intent gaze. "We were in one of the rooms with security footage. We saw someone in all black dragging Triplett into the plane. We didn't know if you'd all be in here but we had to go with it."

She ducked her head, staring at the floor, tears filling her eyes. "You didn't see who it was?"

Coulson shook his head. "No. They were careful to hide their face. They're… probably dead now."

"Yeah, you're right. I don't know who could have survived those explosions."

He became expressionless as he stared straight ahead, blocking out all sound around him and only seeing Ward's face on the screen, shoving Triplett into the plane before turning and running towards the elevator, towards the freedom a helicopter could provide him.


	3. Shadow

A/N: Sorry this chapter is so short. The next few chapters are really going to be more of a set up than actual plot, because I still need to figure out where I'm going with this and I also want to show that Ward is not making some turn around right away. The quotes are from several episodes and act as flashbacks.

WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD FOR EPISODE 20 AS WELL AS THE PROMO FOR EPISODE 21!

…

He sat on a bus, staring out blankly into the dark sky. Although his eyes seemed blank, and vacant, his mind was racing with everything that had happened in the last few weeks. His life was in shambles.

"_If we make it out of this, maybe we can… grab a drink, you and me."_

"_Us… is a strong word."_

"_There are things about me… you wouldn't like, if you knew."_

"_It scared me. Opening up and that kiss, which was a very nice kiss, I admit."_

"_He knew you had a soft spot for Skye, and she might take advantage of it."_

"_You lying bastard! Son of a bitch! You lying-!" _

"_I'm a survivor"_

"_You are a serial killer. And you know what? You were right about one thing. I _wouldn't_ like the real you."_

"_I am not that scared kid anymore."_

"_I know that you care about us Ward!"_

It all ran through his head in a never ending loop of being recruited for Coulson's team, gaining their trust, and ending with him losing everything good he thought he could hold onto.

There was a current of hot white anger, running through his veins and making him want to snap the necks of every civilian on the bus he rode. He couldn't though. He was a man without anything. No friends, no mentors, and certainly no significant others. He was alone, and the worst thing he could do would be to rage. Doing so would cost him any sense of anonymity he had.

He'd left the helicopter he took eighty miles back, in some run down town with no mark on the map. He couldn't afford to have anyone looking for him with a stolen car, so he'd hopped on the first bus he could find.

He turned his head to the front of the bus, his eyes gazing at the road before him, stretching further and further into the darkness. As he contemplated where he'd go next, the lights inside the bus flickered, and faded into nothing, submerging him in shadows once more. Out of the light, and back into the shadows.


	4. Weary

A/N: In response to a review I got last night, yes, I am planning on actually continuing this, I just want to get some other things off my plate first. I'm planning on finishing off my Skye-centric drabble series at 30 chapters so once that's done, I'll be devoting more time to this. Still don't expect another update for likely, a month.

With the (presumed) central base of HYDRA gone, Coulson took his team further and further off the radar. He took them to one of the few remaining secret bases that SHIELD had, where they recuperated and gathered their emotions after such a battle as the one they faced.

"What happens now, A.C.? What do we do?" Skye leaned forward, her head tilted to her left as she gazed into Coulson's eyes, the light that had once lit them dimmed by betrayal, and heartache.

He shook his head, his lips turned down in a deep set frown of thought. "All we can do is take them down. We'll keep searching for HYDRA bases and we'll take them out, recapture them."

"And then what?" The quiet voice came from Jemma, who grasped at her elbow, leaning slightly on one side. "SHIELD's gone, sir… What do we do when it's all over?"

Coulson looked up at her with sad, fearful eyes. His voice was soft, and laced with doubt as he spoke. "I don't know…"

Fitz slumped in his chair, the weight of everything engulfing him and exhausting every cell in his body. "We'll figure it out, Simmons. I know it." She pursed her lips, but sat down next to him and grabbed his hand, squeezing it in gratitude.

Triplett walked through the base doors, his eyes weary and aged years older than him. "We've got a case, sir. The footage Skye managed to hack picked up on some HYDRA agents. They're in Washington State."

Coulson nodded to Triplett before rising from his chair with a groan of aching muscles. "We'll head out there tomorrow. For tonight, everyone rest. We won't get the chance to do much of that for a while."

They nodded, their faces determined despite the weariness that hung in their eyes, so heavy and dulled.

…

For an hour after everyone else had gone to bed, Coulson stayed up, sitting at the desk of the plain, blank office. He missed the BUS with an ache you could only feel at losing home. He'd find the BUS again. It wasn't at the Fridge when the battle happened.

As he stared at the computer screen, his eyes lowered and opened slowly, as he fought against the tiredness that threatened to pull him under.

Knowing he couldn't fight it, he turned off the computer and moved to lay down in the small cot against the wall of the office.

As his eyes closed once more, he could hear the voice of Fury, as he'd spoken to him before his first mission.

"_No fight is ever truly a victory. But every fight has to be worth something." _


End file.
